Informant's tips are putting a dent in Texas drug gang

Published 6:30 am, Thursday, November 11, 2010

What started three years ago with a Raza Unida gang member pumping a bullet into the head of a fellow soldier secretly working for the FBI culminated in Houston Wednesday with 12 members or associates of the Latino syndicate sentenced to prison.

Another got probation.

The men on their way to federal lockup were not convicted in the retaliation murder of fellow gang-member-turned-informant Eric Luna, but for their assorted roles in a cocaine and methamphetamine distribution network that reached from the Mexican border to the streets of Houston.

In a sentencing hearing Wednesday for two of the gangsters, a federal prosecutor bluntly warned Henry Garcia, 32, who cooperated in exchange for leniency, that he is marked for death.

"You cannot go back. They will kill you," Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Braley reminded the shackled defendant as he stood before a federal judge.

Garcia was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Other sentences, handed down this month, ranged from more than 20 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole to probation.

The Raza Unida may never know how many of its members agreed to assist the U.S. government as the case file is thick with sealed documents and notations that give few hints to what happened behind the scenes. Betrayal is considered a cardinal sin among major prison gangs — and the penalty is death.

Confidential source

Raza Unida was formed in the Texas prison system in the 1990s as a way for members to protect themselves.

Membership is for life and denoted by such ranks as captain, lieutenant, sergeant and soldier.

The FBI quietly infiltrated the Raza Unida gang with Luna, who had been released from state prison in 2006 after serving four years for cocaine possession. The investigation was taken to a new level when four months later the gunman, whom Luna apparently trusted, walked into his bedroom before dawn and shot him.

"It began with a confidential source who just got out of prison and was going to ingratiate himself to the gang, then we initiated an investigation with his assistance," FBI agent Todd Burns testified during the case. "He was murdered, and that kind of kicked the investigation into high gear."

Documents reviewed by the Chronicle show that informant to be Luna.

Court papers show that following Luna's death, the FBI turned up the heat and secretly intercepted 16,000 phone calls.

Cocaine was discussed by the gang members, who used such bizarre code words for drugs as White Girl, Mike Jones, Windshield and Gabacho, Spanish slang for white guy, documents show.

In addition to drugs, items seized include handcuffs, police scanners and bullet-resistant vests.

One of those convicted in the case was apparently pulled over for driving a minivan full of kids who weren't wearing seat belts. State troopers found drugs, cash and a gun hidden in a secret compartment.

Agents hid a camera outside one of the gang's Houston stash houses, where drugs were stored and packaged. They used the camera to watch who came and went from the house. Gang members and their associates were followed to homes, apartments, hotels, restaurants and storage facilities, according to records.

'You are excused'

Ray Contreras, 35, who served as an enforcer to collect drug debts, was sentenced to 17 years in prison Wednesday, but not before appealing for sympathy from U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison.

"I would like to start off by apologizing to your honor; the United States; my family; and all others involved in this case," he said. "In the past 19 months I have reflected on my mistakes, and I ask your honor for a just sentence."

The judge said given Contreras' crime record, he felt he had few options.

"I am very sorry," the judge said. "You are excused."

Pedro Muniz, who is the gang's Houston leader and has a large "R" and "U" tattooed on his shoulder blades for Raza Unida, was sentenced to 19 years last week.

Muniz, 38, was originally accused of Luna's murder, but charges against him were dropped when another gang member admitted to the crime. He is in state prison.

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